This invention related to mailing forms, and more particularly, to mailing forms which, after information is printed thereon by a simplex, non-impact printer, can be folded and subsequently machine-sealed to form into an outgoing mailer containing a printed document.
Non-impact printers, such as laser or ink jet printers, are being increasingly used to provide a fast, economical, and convenient method of printing data developed within computer systems and stored in databases. An important example of this kind of data is accounting data of both large and small organizations. In most organizations, preparing and distributing accounts payable, e.g., payroll checks or other financial documents, e.g., tax or stock information, invoices, statements, or the like, represents a significant effort, as such account data is printed and distributed in envelopes.
Whereas many invoices, monthly statements, renewal notices, questionnaires and the like arrive in a single envelope together with a number of other printed documents such as a return envelope and a response document, certain payments or periodic informational mailings do not require a response from the receiver of the information.
Multi-part forms, including envelopes in which documents are sent, together with the documents themselves, have been manufactured for use in impact printers. Such forms are typically assembled into webs with sprocket holes extending along one or both lateral edges to facilitate handling through a pin feed impact printer. Transferable coatings are selectively placed on one or more of the sheets making up the assembly, so that impact printing forces are transferred to produce characters on intermediate document surfaces. This approach has further been modified to provide a remittance envelope, in which various materials, such as a check and a portion of the statement, may be returned to the organization sending the statement.
However, with the increasing popularity of non-impact printers, especially among small business organizations, the percentage of organizations having the impact printers necessary to use such multi-part forms is decreasing. Therefore, what is needed is a mailing form configured for use with non-impact printers. However, by simply adapting the standard available technologies to produce forms which can be used with non-impact printers results in forms that do not have flexibility and the capability for efficient use with non-impact printers. For example, mailers produced by machine-fold and seal technologies available in the 1980s and 1990s were often burdensome or clumsy to open. A perforated strip had to be removed from at least three, and sometimes four, sides of the mail piece. At least two of these strips ran at right angles to the paper grain whereby perforations are least effective for providing a clean tear.
A number of different types of forms include flaps or pockets provided in a closed configuration which must be opened at a later time. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,633,071, issued to Moore Business Forms, Inc. However, this patent describes a form having the disadvantage of not providing Information Based Indicia (IBI) or showing of a Facing Indicating mark (FIM) per the requirements of the United States Postal Service (USPS). Other forms which provide an outgoing mailer containing a report or payroll check required at least two sheets or plies or have further disadvantages which are overcome by the subject invention.
Furthermore, such forms often must be processed through automatic folding/sealing machines to be used in a practical manner. Such automatic folding machines are other examples of equipment not available to many small business organizations. Additionally, recipients of the prior-available forms usually do not read opening instructions printed on the exterior of the envelope. This resulted in frustration on the part of the recipient as well as damage or destruction of the contents of the envelope. This is especially problematic when the contents include a check.
Later variations of these mailers resulted in the xe2x80x9cZxe2x80x9d fold configuration. This feature allowed for easier opening of the mail piece but did not visually indicate if the glue had been defeated, thus, the piece opened and re-sealed. Also, this variation still required tearing narrow strips left and right.
None of these previous embodiments described above allowed for printing of PC postage on a simplex printer. Each PC postage indicia is unique and therefore cannot be pre-printed.
Therefore, what is needed is a mailing form which is pre-folded and able to be machine-sealed. In using such an invention, the user would have an article suitable for mailing that is suitable for use with a simplex, non-impact printer, and can be easily processed, sealed and subsequently mailed.
The subject invention can provide a mailing form providing advantages that are absent from the currently available forms, including (1) providing a combination outgoing mailer envelope and financial document (e.g., a payment check) produced from a single ply of paper stock, (2) a machine-sealable mailer which protects the integrity of the document within, is easily opened and allows for convenient extraction of the contents, (3) a mailer which can be simplex printed to include all addressing, check information, and MICR encoding and electronic PC postage, including Information-Based Indicia (IBI) and FIM indicia and automatic positioning of same, in a single pass through the simplex printer, and (3) providing these in a form which can be sealed with a pressure-activated sealing means is therefore needed in the art.
In accordance with one aspect of the invention, there is provided a mailing form constructed of a single ply of substantially opaque or printable substrate material which is configured such that it can be folded to form a financial document, such as an accounts payable or payroll check and check voucher, and wherein the ply is further folded to form an outgoing mailer envelope in which the financial document is enclosed for mailing to a recipient. Preferably, this single ply of substantially opaque, or printable substrate material can be at least partially overlaid with a single ply of substantially transparent substrate material to provide windows which can be viewed or scanned therethrough. Furthermore, the current invention provides the additional feature of containing suitable adhesive such that the article can be sealed by utilizing applying pressure to the adhering plies. Certain features of this embodiment are described in related U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/243,003, its parent, U.S. Pat. No. 5,865,717, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/488,067, and its parent application, U.S. patent application, Ser. No. 09/179,224, all of which are hereby incorporated by reference.
One general advantage of the subject invention is to provide a user with a form which is of a standard size for printing on a standard non-impact printer, but which is actually an oversized form which would not normally be printable on a standard non-impact printer. Another generally advantageous aspect of the subject invention is to provide a mailer which can be used for sending secured documents, i.e., a mailer having features which maintains the security for the contents, e.g., financial documents such as a check or tax document, contained within the mailer.
The mailer form of the subject invention is constructed from a single ply of substantially opaque or printable substrate material, such as paper stock commonly used in the industry, having standard width, e.g., 8xc2xd inches and meeting banking and postal requirements. The length of the form should be long enough to provide separable sections of the form which can be folded in a manner to provide a front and back ply for an outgoing mailer envelope and a financial document, such as a standard check and voucher document, each of which are vertically aligned in the extended (pre-folded) configuration. Typically, then, the ply is about 20 to 21 inches in length (the width dimension in reference to the web) in its extended configuration.
The substrate ply includes perforation or score lines horizontally dividing the form into each of these sections and providing fold lines for folding each of the sections into the final folded configuration. One section of the outgoing mailer envelope preferably includes cut-out areas, or xe2x80x9cwindowsxe2x80x9d for viewing of address information and postage indicia printed on a corresponding face of the form which, when the form is folded to form the outgoing mailer envelope, mates with the inner face of the outgoing mailer envelope front ply to show through the windows. The inner face of the outgoing mailer envelope front ply also includes a transparent backing sheet to protect the contents contained within the mailer envelope or to provide efficient feeding of the form through a non-impact printer.
Additional features of the subject invention include the placement of pressure-activated adhesive which allow for the invention to be machine-sealed. Additional certain die-cuts which provide removable protective strips which, when removed, advantageously expose adhesive patternly disposed on the form for sealing the outgoing mailer envelope, and additional perforations providing tear-off strips which can facilitate folding of the form into a completed mailer or can facilitate opening of the sealed mailer by the recipient.
A further advantage provided by the subject invention includes a form which is manufactured and provided to the user in a unique, pre-folded configuration such that mailing information can be printed on a simplex, non-impact printer and the form further processed by the user to produce a mailer envelope having a financial document such as a check and voucher contained therewithin.
Still further, the subject invention can advantageously provide a form which can be sealed using a pressure-seal sealing mechanism, and which is used for sending secured documents, i.e., a mailer having features which maintains the security for the contents, e.g., financial documents such as a check or tax document, contained within the mailer.
In one novel embodiment, the invention comprises an L-shaped tear-away strip along two edges of the form as it is foldably configured. Removal of this L-shaped strip allows access to the document contents contained within the mailer. The contents are attached to the form via a perforation which can be defeated by pulling the contents, which can thereby be removed. Several variations of this embodiment are contemplated, including but not limited to providing different types of notches for accessing the contents. One type of access notch is a corner notch; another is a thumb notch. Yet another variation of this embodiment can include a top edge which is permanently glued together rather than folded over a facing ply to provide reinforcement and accurate and automatic positioning of the Facing Identification Mark (FIM).
Accordingly, providing a single form which includes a payment check or other financial document or information, and which can be folded to provide an outgoing mailer envelope, all printable in a single pass through a simplex, non-impact printer, can be advantageous by reducing labor and material expenses.